Gullu Butt, the infamous baton-wielding man caught vandalising property during violence in Model Town in 2014, was released from Kot Lakhpat jail on Monday, prison sources told Dawn.

Shahid Aziz, alias Gullu Butt, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Oct 30, 2014 under five sections of laws and fined Rs100,000.

Gullu Butt was accused of rowdyism, obstructing public servants in discharge of official duties, and smashing private vehicles with a club outside Minhajul Quran Secretariat in Model Town on June 17, 2014 when a heavy police contingent was engaged with protesting workers of Dr Tahirul Qadri.

Police personnel had not stopped Butt from his illegal activities rather acted as silent spectator and facilitated him.

A division bench of the Lahore High Court earlier in Feb quashed Butt's sentence, upholding his conviction under provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The maximum punishment the court had awarded to Butt was five-year jail term under Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997.

Read more: LHC quashes Gullu Butt’s penalty under ATA

He was given three months under Section 186 of the PPC, two years under Section 353 of the PPC, two years under Section 427 of the PPC and two years under Section 506 of the PPC.

As the punishment was to run concurrently, Butt was due to come out of jail after undergoing the five-year sentence (the maximum penalty), and would be a free man when the LHC set aside the term under Section 7 of the ATA and he had completed his maximum imprisonment of two years under the PPC.

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